Chennai: In a joint operation, the Indian Coast Guard and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, with the help of scuba divers, on Thursday recovered a 17.74 kg gold consignment that was dumped in the Gulf of Mannar region near Mandapam, close to Rameswaram, by a group of smugglers from Sri Lanka. The smugglers, who came in a boat, had hurriedly dumped the gold biscuits worth over Rs 10.5 crore in the sea when they were confronted by interceptor boats of the Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday.
๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฝ-๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ, ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฎ๐
According to Defence sources, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had received a tip off about smugglers making a bid to enter the Indian waters from Sri Lanka carrying an illegal consignment of gold. Following this, the surveillance in the Gulf of Mannar was heightened since Tuesday night and on Wednesday evening, the Indian Coast Guard noticed a boat approaching and intercepted it. However, those on board the boat had managed to dump the box containing the gold into the deep seas.
๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
โThree persons were taken into custody and grilled during which they admitted to have thrown the gold into the sea. We engaged scuba divers, who managed to trace the contraband in the sea bed. The box contained 14 packages of gold in bars, chains and sticks tied in a towel. The accused are being interrogated further,โ said a Defence source.